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Thursday, December 31, 2015

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by the lovely people at JORD to ask if I was interested in receiving one of their beautiful hand-crafted watches for consideration. Now, I'd been stalking following them over on Instagram for a while now, so naturally, my answer was a resounding YES, PLEASE! Quite frankly, I'm surprised they didn't hear my scream of enthusiasm all the way over in the U.S.! I picked the Fieldcrest watch in Maple because the classic, yet stylish design really appealed to me and the blond shade of the wood is versatile enough to go with most outfits.

In case you aren't familiar with JORD, they're based in the U.S. and have a range of beautiful wood watches, all made from sustainably sourced wood. These aren't just eye-catching, statement timepieces, but they are also incredibly light and comfortable to wear, particularly when it comes to the larger designs. The only drawback is that the wood grain does require a little more care with handling than your standard plastic and metal, so I wouldn't take this to the gym or the beach. The watches are considered to be splash-proof, but it's best to reduce exposure to water as it could affect the internal mechanical movement as well as the wood strap. Maintenance of the delicate wood grain is best achieved with rubbing the strap with some lemon or orange oil applied to a soft cotton cloth. The FAQ section on the JORD website also advises that wood can develop a natural patina over time, so you can choose to coat it with beeswax, butcher block oil or walnut oil to maintain the original finish.

Free international delivery is included in the price of the watch, and it took less than a week for the watch to reach me in Melbourne, which I found quite impressive. The watch was wrapped around a soft cushion and packaged in a beautiful wood grained slide-top box, as you can see in the photo below. Each watch is usually personally pre-sized according to the measurement chart on the website, however I measured mine a little too snugly, so the included extra links were something I was grateful to receive. I simply took it to a jeweler and asked them to increase the size by one extra link. There was also a warranty card included.

As you can see, the wooden theme is carried through the entire package with a little tag also made of wood attached! I quite like that added detail, it adds a lovely touch.

The stainless-steel butterfly clasp is quite sturdy, and most importantly, it's easy enough to manage single handed. You simply fold the wood together over the clasp and press down to snap it shut, and there are two push buttons on each side of the clasp that you push to release when you wish to take the watch off.

Here are some details on the watch as taken from the website. You can also visit their FAQ section for more information.

I'm someone who loves wearing watches, and this has rapidly become a favourite in my collection! I love how lightweight and comfortable it is to wear, especially in the warmer months, and the unique wood finish has gotten me lots of compliments every time I've worn it!

Don't you think this watch is gorgeous, beauties? I've already got my eye on the Maple and Rose Gold watch from the Sidney series, it's such a stunning watch! Which one takes your fancy? You can view the whole range here.

It's almost Christmas, so if you've forgotten someone important, this might be a great way to make up for it!

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Much love,
MM.
x

Note: This product was kindly provided for editorial consideration. This has not affected my opinion in any way. For more information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

I'm sorry for the absence of late...2015 has been such a topsy turvy year for me and it's been hard to keep up a consistent blog schedule without a regular routine! Hopefully 2016 will be more consistent so I can get back to my regular blogging routine. Thank you all for bearing with me this whole time and still bothering to read my posts!

In the meantime, I was recently in New York for a whirlwind ten days with a group of friends at the end of November. It was an amazing trip and I really loved New York, I could actually see myself moving there if it wasn't for the extreme cold and the incredibly long flights! It was a bit of a dream come true to be able to see the Big Apple, and naturally, to be able to do a bit of beauty shopping! The exchange rate is a bit of a killer at the moment, but a lot of the prices were still better than what we get in Australia, and also, it was amazing to be able to shop at Sephora. The first time I entered a Sephora, I felt like a kid in a candy store! The sales assistants were incredibly lovely, and so excited when they learned I was a beauty blogger/makeup fanatic from Australia. We spent quite a while excitedly discussing makeup! I even got my makeup done there once. Like all makeup counters, the makeover was redeemable on products purchased so it was good fun and I got to try out a whole bunch of products I had my eye on.

I promised to share photos of my makeup haul, so here it is! I'll apologise in advance for the lack of photo quality, I'm currently in Malaysia without my laptop or any of my blogging paraphernalia, so these flatlays are a bit rough! I stocked up pretty heavily on fragrances as you can't order these through mail forwarding companies due to the hazardous materials restrictions on fragrances and nail polishes.

First up, here are the four Black Friday deals I picked up. Each of these were $10 each. I initially ordered three packs as a trial and had it shipped to the apartment we were staying at, thinking the order would probably get cancelled, but it went through! I ended up returning one of the packs (the Smashbox primer duo pack) as it was a lot smaller than I had initially thought, and then picked up a further two packs in store from the limited stock they still had left.

The Made Up Maiden is a Melbourne based beauty blog written by Nalini, a young professional with a great love for all beauty products (but is especially fixated on makeup, nail polish and fragrances).
Working in a male dominated industry by day, she moonlights as a beauty blogger by night, and is always on the lookout for new products to fall in love with! She loves exercising her creative side by showcasing various makeup and nail art looks on the blog.